ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Cannon–Thurston map

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a map? It's a picture of a place that shows you where everything is, like your bedroom or your favorite park.

Well, the Cannon-Thurston map is a special kind of map but for something called "groups". A group is basically a bunch of objects that can do something together, like a bunch of toys that you can play with at the same time.

So, imagine you have two groups - group A and group B. Now, let's say that there are some objects in group A that can "connect" or "match up" with some objects in group B, kind of like putting together two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly.

The Cannon-Thurston map helps us understand how these two groups connect to each other, just like a map shows us how different places are connected to each other.

But here's the thing, the Cannon-Thurston map is a bit tricky because it looks at groups that are really big and don't have a clear structure. It's like trying to figure out a really big and complicated puzzle that doesn't have any clear edges or corners to help you.

So, the Cannon-Thurston map is a tool that helps mathematicians understand really big and complicated groups that don't have a clear structure, by showing how they fit together with other groups. It's kind of like a special kind of compass for exploring really big and complicated mathematical worlds!